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Santi Cirillo e Metodio a Dragoncello
'''Santi Cirillo e Metodio a Dragoncello '''is a late 20th century parish church at Via Osteria di Dragoncello 12 in the new suburb of Dragoncello. This is in the Acilia Nord suburban district to the south-west of the city. The dedication is to SS Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs and Patrons of Europe. History The parish was set up in 1989. The church was designed by Bruno Bozzini, from Milan, and built in 1997. Exterior Layout The church is part of a larger parochial and social complex forming one enormous mostly single-storey building, which is on the plan of a very irregular heptagon (seven-sided figure) roughly approximating to a square. This edifice mostly surrounds a trapezoidal courtyard, entered through a wide open portal in the near left hand diagonal side of the complex. The courtyard functions as the church's piazza or atrium. The church itself occupies the entire depth of the complex at its back end (to the left in the piazza on entering). It has a Greek cross plan, with four arms of equal length. In keeping with the "spoiled symmetry" of the complex, the right hand cross arm has its end wall at a diagonal -the near wall of this arm is much longer than the far one. Fabric Annexes The ancillary accommodation is in pink brick, with a continuous horizontal median strip of large vertical rectangular windows -regularly, the windows are replaced with one or two grey panels. This window strip stops in the zones either side of the church. To the right, the cessation is where a small second storey is added on. The grey composition roof is of two parts interrupted by the church, and has an interesting variable pitch. A lot of it is flat, but it also has low single pitches and a gable over the isolated second storey already mentioned. Church The appearance of the church is in complete contrast. It has a reinforced concrete body, entirely faced in square white tiles in travertine limestone. There is a large deeply recessed round-headed window with a sloping sill in each of the four end walls of the cross arms, and quirkily the two windows in the transverse arms have their lower parts cut off at a diagonal by the roof pitches of the annexes. The fenestration is in clear glass fitted into frames forming squares and horizontal rectangles. The church's roof has a very slight gabled pitch over each arm, although this is not apparent from the ground from which the roof is invisible. No decorations or protrusions of any kind are allowed to mar the solid planes of the white walls. There is a campanile tucked into the near right hand inside angle, a white tower the sound-chamber of which protrudes over the roofline as a cuboid. Each face of this has a round-headed sound-hole. Façade The church is set well back from the street. After a wide gateway there is a cobbled area, then a wide gap in the ancillary wings through which you can see the church. The single main entrance is in a large round-headed portal under the window in the near cross arm. This has a deep dished frame bearing a figurative relief all in white, with Christ the Pantocrator at the top. This is the only decoration on the church's exterior. Interior The interior is also all in white, with the surfaces having some interesting slopes and geometric forms. The sanctuary has a small apse which is a segment of a sphere, but this is in the thickness of the wall (it is not visible outside). Access The church is open daily from 7:30 to 19:30 (on Thursdays, it closes at 21:00 after Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament). Liturgy According to the parish website, Mass is celebrated: Weekdays 19:00 (18:00 on Saturdays from October to April); Sundays and Solemnities 9:00, 11:00, 18:00 (19:00 May to September). There is also a Mass at 8:30 on Saturdays and First Fridays. A Mass in the Extraordinary Form has been celebrated on First Fridays at 18:00. Those interested should check this with the parish office beforehand. External links Official diocesan web-page Italian Wikipedia page Parish website Info.roma web-page Beweb web-page Category:Catholic churches Category:Outside the walls - South-West Category:Dedications to Saints Cyril and Methodius Category:Parish churches Category:20th century